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Chelodina
| regnum = Animalia | phylum = Chordata | classis = Sauropsida | ordo = Testudines | subordo = Pleurodira | familia = Chelidae | subfamilia = Chelodininae | genus = Chelodina | genus_authority = Fitzinger, 1826 Fitzinger LJFJ. 1826. Neue classification der reptilien nach ihren natürlichen verwandtschaften. Nebst einer verwandtschafts-tafel und einem verzeichnisse der reptilien-sammlung des K. K. zoologischen museum's zu Wien. J.G. Hübner, Wien. vii, 66 pp. | range_map = Chelodina dist.jpg }} Chelodina, collectively known as snake-necked turtles, is a large and diverse genus of long-necked Chelid turtles with a complicated nomenclatural history. Although in the past Macrochelodina and Macrodiremys have been considered separate genera and prior to that all the same, they are now considered subgenera of the Chelodina. Chelodina is an ancient group of Chelid turtles native to Australia, New Guinea and the Indonesian Rote Island. The turtles within this subgenus are small to medium sized, with oval shaped carapace. They are side-necked turtles, meaning they tuck their head partially around the side of their body when threatened instead of directly backwards. Macrochelodina represents those species that have often been termed the Chelodina B group, or thick necked snake neck turtles. The subgenus was described in 1985 by Wells & Wellington (as a new genus) but was not recognized until recently when it was shown that the name was valid. As such they are a side-neck turtle of the family Chelidae with extremely long necks and long flattened heads. They are specialist fish eaters using a strike and gape mode of feeding. They are medium to large species with the largest Chelodina (M.) expansa reaching shell lengths of some .Macrochelodina expansa (Grey, 1856) - Broad-Shelled Turtle The first fossils (C. (M.) alanrixi) are known from Queensland from the Eocene period (Lapparent de Broin, F. de, & Molnar, R. E., 2001).Lapparent de Broin, F. de, & Molnar, R. E., 2001: Eocene chelid turtles from Redbank Plains, Southeast Queensland, Australia. Geodiversitas: Vol. 23, #1, pp. 41-79 Macrodiremys is a monotypic genus recently split off from the rest of the Chelodina. Its sole member is the enigmatic Chelodina (Macrodiremys) colliei from Western Australia. Taxonomy Current taxonomy follows that of Georges & Thomson, 2010Georges, A. & Thomson, S. 2010. Diversity of Australasian freshwater turtles, with an annotated synonymy and keys to species. Zootaxa 2496: 1–37. Subgenus: Chelodina * Chelodina (C.) canni * Chelodina (C.) longicollis * Chelodina (C.) mccordi * Chelodina (C.) novaeguineae * Chelodina (C.) reimanni * Chelodina (C.) pritchardi * Chelodina (C.) steindachneri Subgenus: Macrochelodina Wells, R.W. and Wellington, C.R. 1985. A classification of the amphibia and reptilia of Australia. Australian Journal of Herpetology, Supplementary Series. 1:1-61. * †''Chelodina (M.) alanrixi'' de Broin and Molnar, 2001Lapparent de Broin, F. de, & Molnar, R. E., 2001: Eocene chelid turtles from Redbank Plains, Southeast Queensland, Australia. Geodiversitas: Vol. 23, #1, pp. 41-79 * †''Chelodina (M.) insculpta'' de Vis, 1897de Vis, C.W. 1897. The extinct freshwater turtles of Queensland. Annals of the Queensland Museum. 3: 3-7. * Chelodina (M.) burrungandjii Thomson S., Kennett R. and Georges A. (2000). [http://www.carettochelys.com/pdf-library/thomson_et_al_2000.pdf A new species of long necked turtle (Chelidae:Chelodina) from the sandstone plateau of Arnhem Land, Northern Australia.] Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3:675-685. * Chelodina (M.) expansa * Chelodina (M.) parkeri * Chelodina (M.) rugosa Ogilby, J.B. 1890. Description of a new Australian tortoise. Records of the Australian Museum 1:56-59. Subgenus: Macrodiremys McCord, W.P. & Joseph-Uoni, M., 2007, A New Genus of Australian Longneck Turtle (Testudines: Chelidae) and a New Species of Macrochelodina from the Kimberley Region of Western Australia (Australia. Reptilia, 31, 56–64. * Chelodina (M.) colliei References